Handheld gaming will dominate, says Square-Enix

Square-Enix chief executive Yoichi Wada spoke recently about the state of …

With all the talk about the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Nintendo Wii, it's easy to forget just how much steam the handheld platforms have built up right now. While the Nintendo DS' monumental sales are hardly unknown, the overall clout of the touch-friendly handheld, combined with the respectable progress of Sony's PSP, prove that handheld gaming is growing at an exponential rate.

One developer that has noticed this trend and is planning a proper response is Square Enix. Though the company has been slow on the draw with software for the DS and the PSP, both platforms are going to see some serious Squeenix loving in the coming months. New titles including a remake of Final Fantasy Tactics, a prequel to Final Fantasy VII, Dragon Quest IX, Crystal Chronicles: Rings of Fate and many, many more games are slated for release on the two warring handhelds—a sign of more active development than certain consoles are being afforded.

Chief executive Yoichi Wada firmly believes that the handheld market will be the dominant one through 2008. Speaking with the Financial Times, Wada voiced his perspective on the current gaming landscape and the choice to bring a major console franchise—Dragon Quest—onto a handheld for a full iteration:

There is a new breed of gamers in the market—we have to make games for all kinds of people. In the old days, we could just focus on the PlayStation or the GameBoy, but the environment has changed completely.

The user base for the Nintendo DS, in particular, has proven extremely attractive to Square Enix. With 35 million units moved around the world and 22 million more projected for this year, that's not surprising. The numbers are so attractive, in fact, that Square Enix decided to shift Dragon Quest from the console world to the handheld world for a full-fledged franchise title. "We chose the Nintendo DS because the widest array of people use it, including people who previously did not play games before," Wada remarked.

But why has the handheld format become so popular? Gamers have had access to handheld games for over two decades, and it's only very recently that sales have exploded. Wada believes that the setup necessary to enjoy current generation high-definition gaming is simply too demanding. "There are too many specs—and you also need a high-definition TV, a broadband connection and a deep knowledge of gaming—these consoles are mismatched to today’s environment," he said.